Wrath

Everyone had always assumed that if one of them would lose their minds, it would be Red. He was always the more hotheaded of the two and had always been the easier of them to provoke. Though Purple would dispose of incompetence without a second thought, he wasn't nearly as rash or brutal as his partner.

After Red died, though, something about the look in the eyes of their remaining Tallest changed.

No one knew the details of Red's death, and whatever the circumstances had been, Purple had no intention of divulging.

There were rumors; there were always rumors surrounding such things, but no one could really say for sure.

He plowed through solar systems and left them devastated in his wake without regard to treaties, ceasefires, or non-aggression areas. There was no option for retreat; there was only force. The one and only rule became "by any means necessary".

The only time he would take calls from or speak with other leaders was to listen to them beg. He would prop his feet up on the nearest table or chair with popcorn and soda within reach and half-crooked grin that never seemed quite right. He listened to desperate appeals, leaders pleading on behalf of their people to please, for the love of anything he kept sacred, give them a few hours. Allow them the chance to evacuate as many survivors as they could or just give them enough time to say goodbye to their loved ones; surely, if he had ever had a care for any creature in the universe, he could understand.

"You know something, I'm going to let you in on a little secret, Ta'Khan, since you and your planet will be space dust in a matter of moments. I loved somebody once. I loved him more than someone like you could ever hope to imagine. It's been kept out of the media, thanks to your friendly neighborhood censors, but the two of us were taken prisoner some time ago. An inside job, apparently. We weren't there an hour before I watched them put a bullet in his brain with no threats, no ultimatums, and no time for appeals. One second he's alive and the next, I'm wearing his blood. I killed every single one of them with my bare hands.

Now maybe it's not my place to separate the sheep from the goats. Maybe I'm just terribly warped because Red died for no good reason. At least you'll have died for your own transgressions."

"What do you mean? We've never done anything!"

"Now, now, I do believe the Ca'drak are extinct because of your people. I'm aware of the irony that by destroying you I become you and all that, but I won't have to live with it for long."

"You don't know how long you'll live. I hope you suffer every second of it."

"Rest assured, Ta'Khan, I do indeed suffer every second of my life, but demolishing your race will have no bearing on it. I'll live until I've taught the universe a lesson about war, so maybe the future will learn from the past. I will kill every living creature until I feel calm enough to turn the trigger on myself. If it is any kind of consolation, know that I too, will die at my own hands. Now, if you'll excuse me, as lovely as this has been, I've got a detonation that's behind schedule. Cheer up, Ta'Khan. You won't have to know what it feels like to lose everything."

"You don't have to do this…"

"No." He smiled, "But I want to."

A/N: hope that was at least a decent bunch of rambling.